A Work of Ibn Al-Kalbī on the Arab Peninsula

Ibn al-Kalbi - Arabian Peninsula.pdf NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS A WORK OF IBN AL-KALBT ON THE ARAB PENINSULA The list of the works of Ibn al-Kalbi recorded by Ahmad Zaki Pasha (Ibn al-Kalbi, Kitab al-asnam, Cairo, 1924, p. 73, no. 57) contains a work Kitdb Ghuzayya (correctly: Kitdb Ghaziyya; see Yaqfit, Mu'jam al-udaba', ed. Ahmad Farid Rifa'I, Cairo, n.d., xIx, 290, 1. 1); Ahmad Zaki remarks that Ghuzayya is a well-known tribe. The title of the work seems to indicate that it deals with the tradition and stories about the tribe. The name of the book was, however, transmitted erroneously and it seems that the error crept very early into the copied book of Ibn Nadim's Fihrist. The correct name of the book is recorded in the MS of al-Husayn b. 'All b. al-Katib, known as al-Wazir al-Maghribi (see GAL, Suppl., I, 600-1), al-H.asan Adab al-khawdss (MS Brussa, Husayn Qelebi, 85b) in a significant passage in which one of the meanings of the root ' 'arb ' is discussed (fols. 38b-39b). Al-Wazir al-Maghribi quotes an opinion that 'arba denotes the Arab peninsula and records a passage from Ibn al-Kalbi's book 'Arba (so vowelled) confirming this opinion: fa-min al-shdhidi 'ald anna 'arbata ismu jazirati 'l-'arabi m&anshadahu hishdmun al-kalbiyyu fi kitabihi 'l-musammr 'arbata li-abi talibin 'ammi 'l-nabiyyi salla 'lldhu 'alayhi wa-'al adlihi....1 wa-'arbatuardun la yuhillu hardmahd: min al-ndsi ghayru 'l-shautariyyi 'l-qunabili.2 Al-Wazir al-Maghribi gives the explanation of the meanings of shautari and qunabil3 and differs with the opinion of Ibn al-Kalbi that 'arba-according to the quoted verse-denotes the Arab peninsula. In his opinion 'arba in the verse quoted by Ibn al-Kalbi denotes Mecca. 'But Hishdm (i.e. Ibn al-Kalbi) knows better' 4 remarks al-Wazir al-Maghribi respectfully at the end of the passage. Al-Wazir al-Maghribi may indeed be trusted in his information about genealogy and about the works of Ibn al-Kalbi. He had a profound knowledge of nasab which is attested by his book al-inds bi-'ilmi 'l-ansdb(British Museum, 1 The author gives a detailed pedigree of Abdi Tilib: ... wa-ismuhu 'Abd Mandf b. 'Abd alMuttalib (wa-ismuhu Shayba) b. Hdshim (wa-ismuhu 'Amr) b. 'Abd Mandf (wa-ismuhu 'l-Mughira) b. Qusayy (wa-ismuhu Zayd) b. Kildb b. Murra b. Ka'b b. Lu'ayy b. Ghdilibb. Fihr b. JMulikb. al-Nadr (wa-huwajimn'u Quraysh, man laysa min wuldi 'l-Nadr fa-laysa min Quraysh) b. Kindna b. Khuzayma b. Mudrika (wa-ismuhu 'Amr) b. al- YTs b. Mlludar NizJr b. Ma'add b. 'Adnan. b. 2 See the verse in Mu'jam al-bulddn, s.v. 'araba with the hemistich: Ydqfit's min al-ndsi illJ 'l-laudha'iyyu 'l-buldhilu and see L'A, s.v. 'arb with the hemistich as in Ydqfit's Mu'jam; but L'A, s.v. qnbl, the hemistich is recorded as in Adab al-khawdss. 3 A rajaz verse of Abfi Ghilib al-'Ijll is quoted: BanT Kulaybin sqaukumjaddun shaqiyy : Hatt&ramdkum 'inda asali 'l-'ashiyy : Bi-mutrahammin f T 'l-shabdbishautariyy. wa-and ardanna hadhi 'l-bayta yadullu 'ald ghayri ma'stashhada bihi 'alayhi Hishamun 4... li-annahu yadullu 'ald Mackkata faqat, wa-Hishamun a'rafu. NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS 591 MS Or. 3620).5 His quotations, glosses, and remarks prove that he had a vast erudition in Jahiliyya tradition and that he was a connoisseur of Jahili poetry. His immense knowledge of nasab is evident in his detailed pedigrees given in the recorded stories of Adab al-khawdss. His esteem for Ibn al-Kalbi and his keen interest in his works is attested by the comments and notes recorded on his authority in the margin of the MS of Kitdb al-asndm.6 It is evident that the work of Ibn al-Kalbi referred to by Ibn al-Nadim in his Fihrist is Kitdb 'Arbanot Kitdb Ghaziyya. The cause of the erroris obvious: the slight graphical difference between Zj and L which led to the clerical s. error. The quotations recorded on the authority of Ibn al-Kalbi in Ydqilt's Mu'jam al-bulddn7are with all probability derived from his Kitdb 'Arba,a book obviously dealing with the Arab peninsula. M. J. KISTER 5 The note of the editor Ahmad Farid Rif5'I in Ibn Khallikan's Wafaydt (v, 39, n. 3): huwa kitabunff wa 'l-adab is erroneous. 6 See 'l-muh.dardt al-Asndm, 26-7. 7 s.v. 'Araba Beirut, 1957, Iv, 97a, 97b; see the verses of Ibn Munqidh, and Abfi Sufydn al-Aklubi (pp. 97, 98) in Adab al-khawdss, fol. 39b f. (On Abil Sufyin al-Aklubi see al-Sam'Kni, al-Ansdb, ed. al-Mu'allimi, Hyderabad, 1962, I, p. 337, n. 1.)